


Off-Key but it's Okay

by Apricotta



Category: SAKANA (Webcomic)
Genre: Anxiety, Established Relationship, Gen, Karaoke, Multi, POV Multiple, Singing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-01-05 05:32:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12183834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Apricotta/pseuds/Apricotta
Summary: Taisei plans a karaoke night for his birthday, and invites the whole crew. Everyone is either pumped for it or terrified as they get ready to sing their hearts out. Taisei cannot sing to save his life, but oh boy, he's GONNA.





	1. All these people..?

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first post here! First fanfic too (assuming the Harvest Moon roleplay posts from highschool didn't count). 
> 
> Hope you all like it! I'm 100% open to hearing constructive criticism and ideas, so shoot them my way :)
> 
> Future chapters will have alternate points of view as it gets closer to the party. This fic assumes that Jiro and Chie are officially in a relationship, but probably a bit of a new couple still. Taisei and Yuudai know each other a bit better here than in canon, and have feelings for each other, but have not admitted feelings or started dating. Overall this fic isn't meant to be focused on shipping, but will have romantic stuff. Happy (very belated) birthday to Taisei!

“Karaoke?”

It was after dinner, and Jiro and Taisei were sprawled on the couch in their apartment, watching some kind of new game show. It was funny, but eventually the two started tuning it out to talk with each other. That was when Taisei revealed his plans for his birthday. He already had the whole thing pretty thought out, only needing to confirm the time with Jiro and Taro’s schedule before he invited the rest.

“It’ll be sooo fun,” Taisei said, grinning as he finished sending a mass invitation text to his friends. “Last year I just went for drinks with you guys, I thought I’d try something different! I invited Chie too!"

“Oh.. I, uhh-"

“Pleaaaaase,” Taisei pleaded, practically draping himself over Jiro when he sensed his reluctance. “You gotta join~ And c’mon, you have a great voice!”

Well, Jiro wasn’t sure about it being a great voice, but it was Taisei’s _birthday_ after all, he wasn’t going to miss it. “Alright, alright, of course I’m coming,” he replied, laughing as he pulled away from his friend’s grasp. He had tried to cover up the anxiety in his voice, and from the way Taisei returned to his usual beaming self, it looked as if he had succeeded. Jiro glanced at his phone to read the text Taisei had sent, with details on the date and location and a typical ‘drinks are on me ;D’, but couldn’t tear his eyes away from the list of other recipients. Taro, Yuudai, Shigeru, Jan, and a few names he didn’t recognize, probably friends from work. And of course, Chie. He felt guilty; she had probably been invited for his sake, but he didn’t know if he even wanted her to be there.

Hell, he didn’t want half these people to be there, as much as he liked them. Sure, Taro and Taisei had heard Jiro sing, he was comfortable around them, but the others he wasn’t so sure about, especially not Chie. He’d have to impress her, right? Now that they were dating, would he have to sing a love song for her, with everyone else in the room watching him? What if she didn’t like his taste in music, or his voice, or both and-

“Jirooo~” Taisei called, waving a hand in front of his friend’s face. “You okay?”

Jiro snapped out of his spiralling panic just enough to reassure him. “Oh, yeah, just wondering what songs I should pick.” Well, it was half true.

“Oh, they might have a song list on their website, I’ll check!” Turned out the karaoke branch they were visiting did have a list, and the two pored over it until it was time to get some sleep.

Half an hour later, though it had felt like much longer, Jiro was wide awake, staring at a poster on his wall without really paying attention. He had found a few songs he liked, and he sang them to himself, low to avoid waking anyone up. He was testing it, imagining what it would sound like out loud, with music, in a room of people. Would he sound okay? Would he be able to get the words out? It was this Friday, only four days away. He still felt bad.. it was his friend’s birthday soon, he should have been focusing on that instead of his own insecurities. Jiro sighed to himself, switching gears to think about his work tomorrow, and what kind of gift to get for Taisei, until he could fall asleep.


	2. Hold On, Let Me Tune this Tuna

Taro stood in the back room of the fish market, butcher’s knife in hand. He hummed softly to himself as he carefully sliced along the backbone of some fresh tuna. Ka-ra-o-ke~ Man, it had been such a long time since he had been! Not to mention last time it had been with some.. questionable friends. He was grateful for the chance at a redo.

Not to mention he had a song in mind that he could completely **nail** , start to finish. His humming turned to quiet singing as he swayed, still cutting expertly. He got through the rap verse with only only one mixup, you could barely notice it, and by the time the chorus came along he was halfway to belting it out. 

“Hey, customers can _hear_ you, you-“

Yuudai’s blonde head peaked out from behind the curtain, freezing slightly at the sight of Taro striking a rockstar pose in the middle of the kitchen. At some point in the song, he had put down his knife, and picked up the still bleeding fish in lieu of a guitar, which didn’t make this any easier to process. Taro cut off mid lyric in surprise, casting a signature death glare until he recognized his coworker’s face.

“Taro, what is happening here.“

“I’m just getting ready for a karaoke night,” Taro said, with a shrug and a quick smile. “C’mon, you should appreciate this, what other chance are you gonna have to hear these beautiful pipes?” Okay, so _maybe_ he was deliberately trying to get on Yuudai’s nerves, and he would probably get chewed out for it. But whatever, he was just singing, right?

“Yeah, well good for you. I got invited too, so I think I’ll get to hear more than enough of your voice.”

“Oh, you did?” Right, Taisei did mention hanging out with Yuudai a couple times. Man, that guy could be friends with anybody.

“So wait, does this mean you’re going?” 

“Uh, I guess, yeah.” A strange expression crossed Yuudai’s face and he vanished back behind the curtain. “Get to work.”

“Yuudai, one more thing.”  
“What.”

Taro strummed a fake chord along his dead fish guitar (not that Yuudai would see) and sang out the last line of the song, the one that had been interrupted in the first place. He wasn't too loud, being mindful of customers this time, but he swore he could hear Yuudai scowling. Taro just smiled, bright eyed as he returned the fish to the cutting board.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully Taro is in character here, I'm less confident with his personality but I knew I'd need to have this scene in there :P Yuudai's chapter is up next!


	3. Sorry I didn't respond to your text! I get overwhelmed by simple emotions

Yuudai stood at the counter, his thumb hovering on the send button on his phone. The message was just a simple 'Okay, see you there' in response to Taisei’s invitation. Why was this so hard? It was Taisei’s birthday, and a good friend would go. He  _ wanted  _ to go. He even told Taro he was going to go. And yet.. He closed his phone, shoving it into his back pocket, reply left unsent. He shouldn’t be on his phone right now anyways. He’d send it after his shift. Really.

Yuudai passed the rest of his shift in as much silence as he could manage at the cash register. His phone was in his bag out of sight, but by the end of his shift he was restless, vaguely wanting to set off running though he had no idea where he would go. He refused to make eye contact with his bag as he slung it on his back. 

“I’ll send it when I get home.”

And that’s how Yuudai ended up wandering a nearby shopping district, instead of getting on the subway home. He fidgeted with his bracelets as he walked, glancing at passing store windows. Taisei and him were pretty much friends, right? Should.. should he get him a present? He walked a bit slower, taking in the window displays more deliberately as dread creeped up his back more than it already had. What could he even get Taisei that he couldn’t get for himself? Visions of Taisei putting on a polite show for a mediocre gift cropped up against his will. That and the chance of looking like a jerk if he didn’t bring a gift, or being completely obvious if he did. Ugh..

Yeah, he had to go home now. He’d look online or something. This was all too expensive anyways, he knew how out of place he was and could swear that people were starting to stare.

 

* * *

Yuudai folded himself into the only available subway seat, trying to keep himself from accidentally touching the strangers next to him. He was processing a fresh wave of guilt over being late to feed Hime when he felt eyes on him. His face snapped up, glare at the ready, but it fell on a (somewhat) familiar face. He gave a halfhearted nod and looked back down, but the familiar person persisted.

“Wait, you’re Jiro’s friend. Yuudai, right?” 

“Co- uh, I mean, yeah. Chie’s friend?”

“Youuu got it!,” she said, with an entirely uncalled for enthusiasm. “It’s Sango.” 

Yuudai looked at her dopey expression, resigning himself to whatever uncomfortable conversation this was going to be. He caught a glance of the book in her arms, with a quick flash of embarrassment when he recognized the title. Sango  _ apparently _ only caught onto the glance.

“Oh, were you looking at this? It’s a shoujo manga I just finished about the complicated relationship between…"

This continued, unbearably, for over five minutes of Yuudai listening to his favourite romance parroted back to him on a crowded train. Sango eventually lost steam though, and settled on the topic of their mutual friends. 

“So Chie has been pretty excited about karaoke this Friday. I guess you’re going too?”

“Uh, yeah I guess.”

“Oh my gosh that’s great! I’m jealous that I’m not going, but me and Chie go all the time anyways. Have you been before? You’re gonna have so much fun!”

“Ahah.. sure, yeah.. Oh! My stop is next.”

Yuudai abruptly stood up, giving a small wave to Sango as he turned to leave, before he was interrupted again by that book from before being thrust in his direction.

“You ‘wanna borrow the story? Like I said, I finished already!”

He didn’t have a chance to formulate a proper response before the subway doors opened for his stop. He managed a sort of confused shrug and another small wave as he accepted the book and followed the rest of the exiting crowd. Outside, he quickly hid the book away in his bag, unsure as to why he took it in the first place. He already had a copy, and now he’d have to bring this to work to return it.. He let out a small sigh, and made his way up to his apartment.

 

* * *

Hime circled Yuudai's legs as he entered his apartment, eager for her late dinner. “Alright, alright,” Yuudai consoled, as he put his bags down and poured a small portion of food into her dish.

With Hime content and busy with her meal, Yuudai settled onto his couch and reached into his bag. He pulled out his phone, along with Sango’s book, which he had almost forgotten over his short walk. He thumbed through it, wondering why on earth Sango had thought to give this to him. Why did she even talk to him at all in fact, given that their last interaction ended with him practically chasing her out of Ren’s store? Could it be obvious somehow that he liked this genre? Or maybe Sango, out there as she seemed, had some sort of sixth sense about these things..

His hand stopped on a favourite page, where the protagonist had to set aside all their own worries in order to reach out to the love interest. It was a plot line done many times before, but this story just seemed to pull it off so well… 

Yuudai hesitated, but eventually he reached out for his phone, pulling up his message to Taisei from his saved drafts. He  _ may _ have had to close his eyes to send it, but in the end, it was done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeeey, its been a while! I've been pretty busy, and also lazy, the last few months. But I'm back, and with the holidays coming up I should have a bit more time to write. I look forward to getting back into the story, and I hope you do too!
> 
> Also Yuudai, I feel you. It can take me *days* to work up the energy and courage to respond to a single email..


End file.
